Draft-gear.



H.T.KRAKAU. DRAFT GEAR.

APPLICATION FILED AR 11, 1908.

Patented Jan. 25,1910:

WITNESSES H. T. KRAKAU.

DRAFT GEAR. APPIJOATION iILED MAR 11, 1908.

UNITED s'rArEs PATENT OFFICE.

I HARRY r. mum-or CLEVELAND, or ro, nssrenon in THE nn'rronnn MALLEABLE GASTINGS COMPANY, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATIQN OF OHIO.

DRAFT-GEAR.

which the following is a fulhclear, and i exact description, reference being bad to theaccompanying drawings, forming partof 4 this specification, in which purpose of p'ushin the coupler into proper Figure 1 is a plan view showing my draft gear applied to a railway car and showing apreferred form ofits embodiment; --Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic plan view, illustrating the rinci'ples of my invention.

l y invention relates to an improvement in radial draftv ears for railway cars, that is, draft gear which is mounted on the car frame, so as to swingin a horizontal plane,

and to adapt itself to the motion of the cars.

as they travel around the curves of the track, and is guided by a connection'of the swing mg" draft gear with the car truck. Prior to this present invention, such draft gears have usually been so mounted and connected with the car truck that they would at all times maintain a position substantially at right angles to the truck frame.

I have discovered that greatly improved results can be obtained by so mounting the draftgear that, instead of maintaining a constant position at right angles to the car truck, it will be guided so that the head of the coupler will be constantly at'about the middle position of the car track, not only when the car is on a straight track, but when it is traveling on a curve. The advantage of this is that the coupler is always in position to couple with the coupler'of an adjacent car, and couplers are thus freed from strains and are adapted to couple with one another freely under all conditions. x In order that'cars may travel freely over curves which aremet' in practice, the draft gearshould have much more side clearance than is now provided, but in that case, 1111-,

less the osition of the coupler is'controlled automat cally, the brakeman will "be required in some cases to go betweenthe carsfor the position" for' coup ing. This \condition is met by my in'vention, for whenthe draft ward portion 3.

Patented Jan; 25, 1910;

coupler heads will be in the center; of ti. track, whether it is curved or straight, they willalways meet and couple and will not do so "under any other conditions.

-Referring to Fig. 1 of the. drawing, 2

represents the car couplen,f-whichshas a long rear extension, preferablyinadein the formof a shank 3, which terminates at the end in a socket 4, for a vertical pivot pm. For convenience, I prefer to make the coupler shank in two parts 3' and 3, the-rear por tion 3 being provided with the socket 4 and being forked so as to fit the sides of the fora yoke 6 to which it is attached by the pivot pin 5, and theyoke is mounted between the draft irons 7, 7 followers 8 being set cross wise within the yoke and adapted to: bear against stops 9 on the irons. A spring or springs 10 is interposed between the fol- The socket 4; fits within gears are guided automatically, so that th I lowers, and these parts together constitute the draft rigging. The particular construction of the draft rigging is not essential to my invention.

When the car is in service, the coupler and its shank will turn radially on the axis of the pin 5, being guided by means described below, so that its head will at all times be in approximately the central portion of therailway track. The draft rig- 'ging, however, is held from turning laterally by the car' sills, and remains in the longitudinal axis of the car, and as the coupler is subjected to the pressure of buffing and draft, the forward follower will be forced back against the spring or the rear follower drawn forward against the spring,

as the case may be, the forward stops 9 resisting the force of pulling and the rear stops 9 resisting the force ,of buffing.

As shown in Fig. 1, the forward fol lower 8 preferably projects forwardly somewhat and 1s provided-witha curved face 8 against which a correspondingly curved surface-'8 'bears, so as to-atford a bearing for the end of the coupler shank in all positions of its lateral adjustment and compression of the spring. To guide thecoupler shank and to :hold it substantially at the center of the track, I providejit' with guiding-rods which are-made with telescopically. arranged sections having interposed springs 11. At their rear ends these rods are con-,

nected by ball-and-socket joints "12 to brackets 13 at the ends of the truck,-and at their forward ends the rods are-connected by ball-and-socket joints 14 with an elbow lever or like connection 15, mounted at the and bolts 18. The pin may, however, be

made integral with the coupler shank, or otherwise secured thereto. The elbow lever connects the guiding rods to the coupler shank in such manner that tension exerted upon it on either side will turn it and keep its arm-on the other side in the proper line, and the ball-and-socket joints afford the necessary flexibility to the parts.

The car coupler is guided to the center of the track under all conditions by proper correlation of the point 5, where the draft gear is pivoted tothe car body, the point 16, at which the guiding rods are connected tothe draft gear, and the length of the draft gear itself, that is to say, the distance be tween the pivotal point and the coupling point (a term which may be used to define thepoint A, Fig. 1, where the longitudinal center line of the coupler intersects the inner face of the outer arm of its knuckle, or the point of pulling contact between 'two interlocked knuckles). To determine these points, I fix the pivotal point 5 arbitrarily at a short distance in advance of the bolster. ThenIhaving located the coupling. oint A '(Fig. 2) at a point at the center of t e track when the car is on a curve, I locate the point 16 as approximately the point where a straight line between the points 5 and A intersects the line BB, which is the line perpendicular to the truck atits center. The point at which these two lines will, intersect is dependent u on the length of the draft gear. I 'may a so determine these points by locating first the point 16 'and then locating the point 5 (the pivotal point of the draft gear) at the point, where the line between A and 16 intersects the line O-D, which is the center lineof the car frame; or I may locate the points 5 and 16 first and then, drawing a straight line therethrough,

locate the point A where that line intersects the center line of the curved track. This will determine the necessary length of draft gear when .the points 5 and 16 are first located. U

By fixing-the coupling point in the center of the track, on a curve, and then drawing a line which is tangent to the center line of.

the curve at that point, and then locating the pivotal point of the draft gear at'the point where this line intersects the longitudinal center line vof the car frame, and

locating' the point'of attachment of the guiding connections with the draft gear at the pomt where this tangential line inter sects a line perpendicular to the truck at its center, the. coupler head will not only be guided to the center of the track, but the couplers of cars of the same length and overhang will meet in alinement witheach other.

It will not always be essible, for various reasons, to make the pivotal point for the draft gear at the exact point so found, but, to secure the best result it is desirable to place the pivot as near this point as possible.

The advantages of my invention 1n assur-.

ing certainty 0 action of the draft gear and in enabling it to couple accurately under all conditions will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, and it will be understood that, observing the principles of my invention, the apparatus may be modified in vanous ways. For example, the construction of the draft gear, the location of the spring rigging in advance of the pivot 5, instead of at the rear, and the formand arrangement of the guiding connectionsof the truck may bevaried in many ways, since What I claim is:

1. A radial swinging draft member ivotally mounted on a car and adapte to swing horizontally, and iding connections between the draft mem er and the truck, the pivot of the draft member being placed at the point of intersection of the longitudinal center line of the car frame and a straight line drawn from the coupling point at the center of the track through the point of connection of the the draft member.

2. A radial swinging draft member pivotally. mounted on a car and adapted to swing horizontally, and guiding connections between the draftmember and the truck, the uiding connections being connected to the raft member at the point of i'ntersec tion of a line perpendicular to the truck at its center and a straight line drawn from the coupling the pivotal axis.

3. 'A radial swinging draft member pivotally mounted on a car and adapted to between the draft member and t e truck, the length of the draft member being determined by fixing the coupling point at the point of intersection between the center line of the curved track and a straight line drawn through the pivotal point and the point of connection o the truck connections to the draft member.

4. A radial swinging draft member ivotally mounted on a car and adapte to swing horizontally, and guiding connections between the draft member and thetruck, a

guiding connections to point at the center of the trackto,

swing horizontally, and g'uidin connections straight line drawn from the coupling point and tangent to the curved line of the track at that point determining, by its intrsec- In t tirhony whereof, I have hereuntp set 'tion with" a lineperpendicular toythe truck myhand. Y 4 at its center, therpoint' of-connecting the truck connections tothe draft member, and, R A by its intersection with. the longitudihal wltnessesy center line qf the car frame the pivotal point ERNE T H. Scnmm,

of the draft member. 7 HARRY E. ORB. 

